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Description: | A complete iron rotary key, of probable Medieval or Post Medieval date (about AD 1150 - AD 1800).The bow is D shaped, with the shank extending from the centre of the straight edge. It is sub-rectangular in cross-section. The shank has significant corrosion build-up and its original dimensions are not clear. The shank projects for 9.5mm past the end of the bit.The bit is rectangular in plan and is also obscured by corrosion. It extends 23mm from the shank and is 26.4mm wide and 8.7mm thick. Any details of wards or clefts is invisible.The key is a dark reddish brown colour. It is 142.9mm long, 55.4mm wide 13.4mm thick. 89.94g.WMID-18F2D3 is a similar example. It notes that: "A number of very similar rotary keys are shown in G. Egan's 'Medieval Households' pages 111-119. From the size of the key and the presence of a solid shank it is likely that the key would have been used to lock a door rather than a casket or chest. Chest locks tend to have a hollow shank and are significantly smaller (ibid: 111). The keys illustrated in this volume are all dated from the late 12th - to late 14th centuries (AD 1150 - AD 1400)." However, compare also WILT-D8A7B4 which says "Egan, G, 2005; Material Culture in London in an Age of Transition, p. 74 records similar incomplete keys from a context securely dated to 1550-1600 AD" and LON-7B88B3 which suggests a 17th century date.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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